Tag fastener



Oct. 7, 1930. v H. c. PORTER v TAG FASTENER 24 @y t B B B, 25 15.4 J ,,I c

1 Patented Oct. 7,1930

UNITED STATES HOWARD c. PORTER, orra GRA veE rAnK; ILLINOIS, Assreivon, iaY MESNE assrenmmv'rs, 'ro vsreivonn srnnn srnarrrna comramz, A conronn'rron or DELAWARE ,rAe FAsT'ENERf Applicationfiled November 14, 1927. seria1"1to. 2e2,a74.. i

My invention relates to tag fasteners. V

It relates particularly totag fasteners employed'to secure tags to package binders, fabric sacks, bales, etc.,fpiece'siof meat and the 5 like. r i An object of the invention is to provide an improved tag fastener. V

Another object is to provide a tagfastener in which positive and complete engagement '10 of the fastener with thearticle to be tagged is made with simple, easy and natural move ments.

A further object is to provide a tag fastener in which positive and complete engagement of the fastener with the article to be v tagged is assured, even when the fastener is carelessly applied.

7 A further object is toprovide such a tag I fastener which will not readily become disen- 2o gaged with the article by pulling upon the tag and which possesses relatively great ten-.

sile resistance against movement in that direction coincident with a pull of the tag away from the article, and whichespeci'ally resists .25 a sidewise pull such as might be caused by the fastener catching in a projection of some other article. i

' A further object is to provide a tag fastener in which but a relatively'small portion i of the fastener is projected through the article and one of the. points of the fastener Within the article lies close along another portion of the fastenerwithout abrupt angular projection therefrom, so that the possibility of injury to the interior thereof is reduced to a minimum.

A further objectis to provide a-tag fastener having its piercing ends so disposed as to permit the use of the same point for a wide variety of fabric, paper and other substances to which the fastener is secured.

Other obj ects and advantages will be more particularly'pointed out from the following description, in which I Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one form of my improved tag fastener, with a tag attached;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the tag fastener shown in Figs. 1 and 2 Fig. lisa fragmentary front elevation of an article showing the fastener in process of being aifixed thereto;

- Fig. 5 is a sectional view along the line 55ofFig.4; j Figs. 6, 8 and 10 are side elevations ofmodified forms of the tag fastener; and

Figs. 7, 9 and 11 are rearelevations of the tag fasteners illustrated in 6, 8 and 10,

respectively. i

In general the ta single piece ofwire ent upon itself to providefa" loop A for receiving a-tag and a portion of the articleflto which the tag isattached, one of theextremities of the wire constituting a piercing arm 13 adapted-to be passedthrough the [article to. whichthe tag is to be; secured and the other "extremity of the wirebei'ng formed to constitute a retaining hook 1G adapted to-prevent withdrawal of the fastener from the article whenthe fastener has been securedthereto. 'f h i ,Thej'fastener' illustrated in Figs. 1 to5 will firstbe described. 1 I:

-The loop A is in the formof atriangle having two acuteangles 5 and 6, angle 5 forming fastener comprises a j the tag supporting portion of the fastener and angle -6 forming in part the article engaging portion of the fastener. -The side 7 of the triangular loop, constituting the hypotenuse ofthe triangle, extends beyond the loop to form' piercingarm 'B which is sheared at its outermost end at an angle preferably ofabou't45 degrees, to form a piercing point 8;

- Retaininghook O lies in a plane parallel with arm B at the rear thereof, (see Fig.2) crossing arm B at an acute angle to theplane ofth'e loop to cause its piercingpoint 9 to lie slightly beyond the remoteside ofloop A (see Fig. 3). Point 9 isformed byshearing-the end of hook Cat an angle. preferably of about ill) 45 degrees, the outermost tip of which eX- tends laterally beyond arm B asjshown in Fi ,3g. y a With reference to Figs. 4 and 5, when piercing arm Bis inserted through an article as illustrated at D 'with loop A swung slightly to the rightlof a plane perpendicular withthe surface of; the article, this beingi'the natural position of the fastener as it is held in the hand of the person applying the tag, piercing point 9 of retaining hook C will closely contact that portion of the article at the adjacent side of piercing arm B, (see Fig. Thus a straight downward pull, without any other special manipulation of the fastener (such as turning it), will cause piercing hook C to pass into the article and thereby secure a iportion of the article within loop A'at that enddefined by: angle 6.. If the substance of the article is relatively stiff, then hook C willbe urged slightly to the 5 left (see Fig. 4) as piercing arm B is inserted therein, the piercing point 9 of the retaining hook G constantly bearing against the article .andfurged away from its "normal position shown in Fig. 3. Consequently a downward pull upon the fastener, Without any other movement or manipulation thereof, will cause retaining hook C to pierce and enterthearticle so as to securely receive and retain a portion of the article within loop A. s

If the fastener is carelessly applied by merely. inserting the piercing arm B'so that side 7 iswithin the article as illustrated in a Fig. l fand' loop A is allowedto lie fiat against the article, the hook C will still be pressing inward on the article with point 9 so disposed that any pull on the tag at angle 5 will cause point 9 to enter the articleand positively engage-hook This is; also apparent by considering Fig. 5' with the article as shown and loop A turned toward the article sothat the fastener takes the position of Fig. 8.

Further, V beseen that if the portion of the fastener lying outside the article D'should catch on any outside article with resultant sidewise stress away from article D, the fastener will resist any tendency to be bent open by such stress because as illustrated in.- Figs2 and 3, the portion C will engage against the portion 7.

In Figs. 6 to 11, inclusive, I have illustrated modified forms of the invention which differ 'fromthat form illustrated and described in Figs. 1 to 5 only in that the contour of loop A is altered to meetparticular requirements of the trade. The operation of these modified forms of tag' fastener is identical to that of the preferred form. t 7

Having thus described my invention, what I'claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is l. A tag fastener comprising a single wire bent inthe form ofa closed loop, one end of the wire forming aside of the loop and extending beyond the same to constitute a piercing arm, and the other end of the wire turned back and in astraight line crossing the piercing arm at an acute angle to the plane of the loop projeetin slightly beyond the ame.-

A tagiestener eompn si a siegle press of Wire bertto fem e e lee acne are with reference to Fig.4, it will 3. A'tag fastener made from a single piece of, wire bentto. form a closed loop,'one'end of the wire forming a side. of the .loop..and projecting therebeyond to constitute a straight piercing arm in the plane of the loop, and the othe r end of the Wire turned back alongand straight across the outside piercing arm to a point slightly beyond the plane'of the loopj p s In witness. whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 9th dayzof November, 1927.' HOWARD C. PORTER. 

